A highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on magnetic nanoparticles and its application in CA125 determination

Sandwich-type immunosensor based on aminated 3D-rGOF-NH2 and CMK-3-Fc-MgAl-LDH multilayer nanocomposites for detection of CA125

Cancer antigen 125 (CA125)1 is the most important biological screening indicator used to monitor epithelial ovarian cancers, and it plays a vital role in distinguishing ovarian cancers from benign diseases. Biosensors show great potential in the analysis and detection of disease markers. In this study, we designed electrochemical sensors based on three-dimensional amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (3D-rGOF-NH2),2 MgAl layered double hydroxide nanocomposites containing ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3),3 and ferrocene carboxylic acids（Fc-COOH）4for the detection of CA125. 3D-rGOF-NH2 possesses good conductivity, a large surface area, and high porosity, enabling more immobilized nanoparticles to be deposited on its surface with excellent stability. CMK-3@Fc@MgAl-LDH nanocomposite was used as a carrier to enhance the immobilization of antibodies and the loading of Fc, conductors to enhance conductivity, and enhancers to gradually amplify the signal of Fc. The surface morphology, elemental composition, and surface groups of the materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM),5 transmission electron microscopy (TEM),6 and X-ray diffraction (XRD)7 techniques. The response signal of the electrochemical sensor was measured by DPV. Under the optimal conditions, the electrochemical sensor obtained a linear detection range of 0.01 U/mL-100 U/mL with a detection limit of 0.00417 U/mL.

Role of Defects of Carbon Nanomaterials in the Detection of Ovarian Cancer Cells in Label-Free Electrochemical Immunosensors

Developing label-free immunosensors to detect ovarian cancer (OC) by cancer antigen (CA125) is essential to improving diagnosis and protecting women from life-threatening diseases. Four types of carbon nanomaterials, such as multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), vapor-grown carbon fiber (VGCFs), graphite KS4, and carbon black super P (SP), have been treated with acids to prepare a carbon nanomaterial/gold (Au) nanocomposite. The AuNPs@carbon nanocomposite was electrochemically deposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to serve as a substrate to fabricate a label-free immunosensor for the detection of CA125. Among the four AuNPs@carbon composite, the AuNPs@MWCNTs-based sensor exhibited a high sensitivity of 0.001 µg/mL for the biomarker CA125 through the square wave voltammetry (SWV) technique. The high conductivity and surface area of MWCNTs supported the immobilization of AuNPs. Moreover, the carboxylic (COO-) functional groups in MWCNT improved to a higher quantity after the acid treatment, which served as an excellent support for the fabrication of electrochemical biosensors. The present method aims to explore an environmentally friendly synthesis of a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of AuNPs@carbon nanomaterials electrochemical immunoassay to CA125 in a clinical diagnosis at a low cost and proved feasible for point-of-care diagnosis.

Application of Various Optical and Electrochemical Nanobiosensors for Detecting Cancer Antigen 125 (CA-125): A Review

Nowadays, diagnosing early-stage cancers can be vital for saving patients and dramatically decreases mortality rates. Therefore, specificity and sensitivity in the detection of cancer antigens should be elaborately ensured. Some early-stage cancers can be diagnosed via detecting the cancer antigen CA-125, such as ovarian cancer, and required treatments can be applied more efficiently. Thus, detection of CA-125 by employing various optical or electrochemical biosensors is a preliminary and crucial step to treating cancers. In this review, a diverse range of optical and electrochemical means of detecting CA-125 are reviewed. Furthermore, an applicable comparison of their performance and sensitivity is provided, several commercial detection kits are investigated, and their applications are compared and discussed to determine whether they are applicable and accurate enough.

Applications of surface functionalized Fe3O4 NPs-based detection methods in food safety

Food safety has always been an issue of great concern to people. The development of rapid, sensitive and specific detection technology of food pollutants is one of the hot issues in food science field. The rapid development of functionalized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) provides unprecedented opportunities and technical support for the innovation of food safety detection. The surface functionalized Fe₃O₄ NPs, which combine superparamagnetic with nanoscale feature, have become an excellent tool for food quality and safety detection. This review highlights the mechanism, principles, and applications of surface functionalized Fe₃O₄ NPs-based detection technique in the agrifood industry. Then the relevant characteristics, functional roles and general mechanisms of nanomaterial-based detection of various endogenous components and exogenous pollutants in foods are discussed in detail. Ultimately, this review is expected to promote the optimization of functionalized Fe₃O₄ NPs and provide direction for the diversity of signal recognition and the sustainability of detection methods.

Electrical stimulation affects neural stem cell fate and function in vitro

Electrical stimulation (ES) has been applied in cell culture system to enhance neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation, neuronal differentiation, migration, and integration. According to the mechanism of its function, ES can be classified into induced electrical (EFs) and electromagnetic fields (EMFs). EFs guide axonal growth and induce directional cell migration, whereas EMFs promote neurogenesis and facilitates NSCs to differentiate into functional neurons. Conductive nanomaterials have been used as functional scaffolds to provide mechanical support and biophysical cues in guiding neural cell growth and differentiation and building complex neural tissue patterns. Nanomaterials may have a combined effect of topographical and electrical cues on NSC migration and differentiation. Electrical cues may promote NSC neurogenesis via specific ion channel activation, such as SCN1α and CACNA1C. To accelerate the future application of ES in preclinical research, we summarized the specific setting, such as current frequency, intensity, and stimulation duration used in various ES devices, as well as the nanomaterials involved, in this review with the possible mechanisms elucidated. This review can be used as a checklist for ES work in stem cell research to enhance the translational process of NSCs in clinical application.

Incorporation of Conductive Materials into Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

In the field of tissue engineering, conductive hydrogels have been the most effective biomaterials to mimic the biological and electrical properties of tissues in the human body. The main advantages of conductive hydrogels include not only their physical properties but also their adequate electrical properties, which provide electrical signals to cells efficiently. However, when introducing a conductive material into a non-conductive hydrogel, a conflicting relationship between the electrical and mechanical properties may develop. This review examines the strengths and weaknesses of the generation of conductive hydrogels using various conductive materials such as metal nanoparticles, carbons, and conductive polymers. The fabrication method of blending, coating, and in situ polymerization is also added. Furthermore, the applications of conductive hydrogel in cardiac tissue engineering, nerve tissue engineering, and bone tissue engineering and skin regeneration are discussed in detail.

Facile synthesis of polyaniline-polythionine redox hydrogel: Conductive, antifouling and enzyme-linked material for ultrasensitive label-free amperometric immunosensor toward carcinoma antigen-125

Sensitivity enhancement and proteins adsorption are the common challenges faced in protein immunoassays. In this work, an ultrasensitive and protein-resistant label-free amperometric immunosening platform for carcinoma antigen-125 (CA125) based on redox polyaniline-polythionine hydrogel (PANI-PThi gel) was developed. The as-prepared hydrogel, which was facilely synthesized by electropolymerization, exhibited good conductivity and strong hydrophilicity while the sensitivity and specificity of the immunosensor can be enhanced. Furthermore, the as-prepared AuNPs functionalized PANI-PThi gel exhibited strong current signal and H₂O₂ electrocatalytic ability, which guaranteed a large current variable range. Based on these, the prepared immunosensor revealed a wide linear range from 0.0001 U mL^-1 to 1 kU mL^-1, a limit of detection of 0.00125 U mL^-1 and its sensitivity was at least three-fold higher than previous works. More importantly, the prepared immunosensor exhibited excellent specificity, making it capable of assaying CA125 in human serum.

An amplified comparative fluorescence resonance energy transfer immunosensing of CA125 tumor marker and ovarian cancer cells using green and economic carbon dots for bio-applications in labeling, imaging and sensing

CA125, is a marker in the clinical diagnosis of several cancers and currently is the best serum-based tumor marker for ovarian cancer. Here, we developed an ultrasensitive antibody-ssDNA aptamer sandwich-type fluorescence immunosensor for CA125 detection. Based on a novel signal amplification strategy the carbon dots (CDs) functionalized with aptamer (CD-aptamer) used as detection probe and PAMAM-Dendrimers/AuNPs was used for covalent attachment of CA125-antibody and completing the sandwich assay method. By measuring of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) signals between CDs and AuNPs as nanoquenchers, the fluorescence signal quenched during sandwich complex formed between anti-CA125, CA125 and CDs-Aptamer and decreasing of fluorescence response signal is related to CA125 concentrations. Under optimal conditions, the immunosensor exhibited an extremely low calculated detection limit of 0.5fg/mL with wide linear range 1.0fg/mL to 1.0ng/mL of CA 125. The application of the immunosensor for CA125 detection in serum samples and measuring of ovarian-cancer cells was also investigated. The immunosensor revealed good sensitivity and specificity with ovarian cell concentrations from 2.5×10³ to 2×10⁴cells/mL with correlation coefficient of 0.9937 and detection limit of 400cells/mL (4 cell in 10μL), indicating potential application of immunosensor in clinical monitoring of tumor biomarkers. Furthermore, the cell viability was not changed upon treatment with CDs probe during 24h, showing the low cytotoxicity of the probe. More importantly, CDs-antibody hybrid was achieved in selective imaging of the cancer cells over the OVCAR-3 line cells, implying its potential applications in biosensing, as well as in cancer diagnosis.

A simple resonance Rayleigh scattering method for determination of trace CA125 using immuno-AuRu nanoalloy as probe via ultrasonic irradiation

AuRu nanoalloy (GR) with Au/Ru molar ratio of 32/1 was prepared by the sodium borohydride reduction method. It was used to label the CA125 antibody (Ab) to obtain an immunonanoprobe (GRAb) for cancer antigen 125 (CA125). In pH 7.0 citric acid-Na2HPO4 buffer solution and irradiation of ultrasound, the probes were aggregated nonspecifically to big clusters that showed a strong resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) peak at 278 nm. Upon addition of CA125, GRAb reacted specifically with CA125 to form dispersive immunocomplexes of CA125-GRAb in the solution and this process enhanced by the ultrasonic cavitation effect, which led to the RRS intensity decreased greatly. The decreased RRS intensity was linear to the concentration of CA125 in the range of 1.3-80 U/mL, with a detection limit of 0.6 U/mL. The proposed method was applied to detect CA125 in real sample, with satisfactory results.

Current trends in the development of the electrochemiluminescent immunosensors

This review presents a general picture of the current trends and developments (2008-2013) related to electrochemiluminescence-based immunosensors. It briefly covers the milestones of qualitative changes in the field of electrochemiluminescent immunosensors; the peculiarities of the electrochemiluminescent immunoassay formats; the basic mechanisms of ECL detection, main features of early and ongoing approaches in electrochemiluminescent immunoassay commercial instruments, and the recent developments in fabrication of solid-state electrochemiluminescent immunosensors. Moreover, systematized data on biomarkers, immunoassay formats, and novel types of electrochemiluminescent label and immobilization support, such as semiconductor nanocrystals, porous noble metals, graphene, TiO2 nanotube arrays, metal-organic composites, multiwall carbon nanotubes, liposomes, photolummonescent carbone nanocrystals are presented as a table. Considerable efforts have also been devoted towards the following two key points: multiplexing analysis (multi-label, and the multianalyte strategies) and integration in microfluidic lab-on-paper devices with capabilities for point-to-care diagnostics. An immuno-like electrochemiluminescent sensor (based on synthetic receptors-molecularly imprinted polymers), as a new alternative to traditional electrochemiluminescent immunoassay is highlighted. Future perspectives and possible challenges in this rapidly developing area are also discussed.